5. Forest Road

next morning. Doldren got up while the sky was still white. He washed his face, finished his meal with only bread and meat, and dressed himself.

The inn is still silent. Watching his footsteps, he went downstairs, put down the key, and went through the door.

He went to the stable where the horse was kept, paid the wages to the page who took care of the horse early in the morning, and got the horse out.

The horse let out a small snort, probably recognizing the scent before it saw its master, and as the page handed the reins to the master, the horse rubbed its head.

Doldren stroked the horse's face and mounted him on his back, and the horse quietly walked toward the gate without any instructions.

"Wiad. Let's go through the forest."

Doldren called out to the horse after passing through the small door on the side of the gate of the castle wall. The pale horse, with its metallic luster, blinked its black glowing eyes and looked back at him once. And he went on the highway for a while, then deviated and turned to the forest path.

"There's no one around." A narrow road where you can see the ground, with grass growing here and there. Other than that, it's a vast open field. The early morning light began to illuminate the world, and the morning dew that fell on the grass glittered like jewels scattered around. Breathing in the morning air, Doldren thought nothing but the scenery.

He could have had demons lurking around, but he didn't notice. But he sensed something behind him, giving off a hint. no sound. Wiad doesn't even care. but--

When I stopped walking and turned around, I saw a small shadow approaching from the castle.

Immediately guessing who it was, Doldren waited for the shadow.

He approached and became clear. It is a sedanka. Mounting a white horse, he approached gracefully.

"Good morning, Doldren."

"Good morning.... Sedanka, do you still have something?"

Sedanka greeted Dordren normally with a chaotic smile on her face, and it was hard to tell if she was laughing or not. Dordren listened to her business, watching Sedanka caressing her white horse by tapping it on the neck.

"Remember when I said I was seeing you off yesterday?"

"Oh... so."

Doldren had completely forgotten. Sedanka read from Doldren's face that she seemed to have forgotten. Before Doldren could say anything, he held his right hand in front of his face, paused, paused, and Sedanka began to speak cautiously.

"Doldren, a proud man who holds the lives of many knights and people in his strong heart.

"I want you to remember what I told you yesterday." And let me also tell you that the country's unipolar protection system is not something you should follow."

Doldren looked into Sedanka's calm eyes.

The centralization of the country~ was a decision to gather the knightly monastic orders scattered in the provinces in the royal capital and protect the royal capital from now on. The point is to protect the royal capital and abandon the rest of the country.

When the decision was made in parliament yesterday, Doldren, who was there, was wide-eyed and speechless. Sedanka sympathized with the dark-haired man who was turning pale.

After the meeting ended, Sedanka called Dordren to another room and told him of an emergency plan that Sedanka would work on herself. The content was a plan to take the people who remained in the provinces to the neighboring country with all the knights as soon as a signal was sent from Sedanka at a later date.

"Negotiations with the neighboring country began a year ago, and arrangements have begun to be made half a year ago." Sedanka said that he was ready to be accepted as a citizen of the Teiwaguna Republic behind the Western Wall - not as a refugee.

I was surprised that the emergency plan came from Sedanka, but no one knows what kind of life the evacuated people will lead in Teiwaguna. "Even so, it's better than leaving the people of the land who can't enter the capital," Sedanka said painfully.

"Yesterday evening." Doldren remained unanswered. Sedanka also didn't tell her to choose one or the other. "And today." In the grassland shining in the morning sun, Sedanka came to tell us that it was okay to disobey the country.

"·····Did you understand?"

"I understand"

To Sedanka's question, Doldren replied without looking away from him. With a smile and a nod, Sedanka's long flaxen hair swayed in the wind like threads of light.

After a brief conversation, Sedanka turned his horse and placed a hand on Dordren's shoulder. And without saying a word he went slowly back to the castle the way he had come.

Doldren also saw his back for a few seconds before advancing his horse. The forest stretched out like a green belt in front.

He enters the forest and weaves his horse through tall trees.

"It's something that changes before you even look at it."

Wiad answered Doldren's mutter with a short cry.

The distance between the trees and the sparseness of the undergrowth haven't changed much, but the strange tension in the air made my muscles strain without even realizing it. I fixed the misalignment of the sword on his waist and opened the front of the cloak to prepare his arms for easy movement.

"The presence of monsters." If you sharpen your senses, you can feel it coming from nowhere, but it doesn't feel like you're being attacked.

"There must be monsters." "No, they definitely are." And he's probably following me with his eyes.

However, for some reason, although the sense of urgency could not be resolved, the monster's movements did not appear at all even after an hour's progress.

Even though he felt a strange sense of incongruity, Wiad didn't slow down and decided to keep moving forward. Wiad seemed to understand, and continued walking quietly along the path through the forest.

"The forest is vast." I don't know how many kilometers it takes just to pass through the forest. Although it's flat, you can't see the exposed tree roots in places with a lot of undergrowth, so you have to be careful when proceeding. There are many drooping vines, and there are also poisonous insects.

Until you leave the forest, be careful to move up, down, left, and right. On top of that, when it comes to forests with monsters, even if it's a short cut, the risk is great.

"You and Wiad should be fine." Doldren believes so. Someone who can always get through and can always read each other's minds. Saved by Wiad, who didn't hesitate to go through the forest.

While thinking about such things, I suddenly noticed that the saliva at the edge of Wiad's mouth was white and dry. Maybe it was too early in the morning and I didn't drink enough water.

I hadn't checked if there was a water field in the forest, but I decided to go there as soon as I smelled water.

"Wiad, if there is water springing, let's stop by."

As Doldren looked into Wiad's face, Wiad snorted him and bobbed his head. Before long, Wiad seemed to sense something, turned once toward Doldren, and then began walking at a slight angle.

I left it to Wiad, who must have confirmed the smell of the water, and continued walking.

"There are also cases of monsters." Wiad paused for a moment as Doldren grew tense.

Then, slowly and quietly, it began to move again, moving toward its destination while moving into the shadows of the trees.

"How many monsters are there?" How long can you move in this situation? To a certain extent, Dordren quickly simulated his thoughts to the extent that he thought it was possible. Wiad also holds his breath and walks cautiously.

After a while Wiad's legs stopped, and what Doldren saw between the branches of the tree was something he'd seen before.

"That fountain I saw in my dream last night."